Door construction



Nov. 21,/1/944. T, MDLAND 2,363,135

DOOR CONSTRUCTION Filed May 12, 1942 www , Patented Nov. 2l, 1944 iFFICEy DOOR CONSTRUCTION Thorvald Madland, Chicago, Ill., assignor toThe `Youngstown Steel Door Company, Cleveland,

Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application May 12, 1942, Serial No. 442,699iciaims (o1. .2o- 26) This invention relates to door construction and isdirected more particularly to sliding `lift doors `for railway housecars and to the construction for securing a Weather-tight seal for theupper edge thereof. `It is an object ofthis invention to provide slidinglift `doors for railway house cars the upper edge of Whichshall be soconstructed as to furnisha flexible weather-tight seal.

, if further Objectis the provision of doors of the character statedabove, the upper edge of which shall be so constructed and related todoor headersV that a flexible weather-tight seal is secured by a simpleflexing action when the doors are lowered. Y

"A further object is to providedoors of the character stated above, theupper edge of which s hall incorporate -iiexible sealing members sorelated to the doors as to be protected thereby.

Other objects of the invention will become clear as the descriptionthereof proceeds njthe `drawing forming part of this specification: i

` Fig. 1 is a partial elevation of a sliding lift door and associatedcar side illustrating theinvention, 'parts being broken away `to moreclearly show the invention.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken on of Fig. 1.

line 2-2 Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on line 3--3 ofFig. 1.

Referring to the drawing wherein a preferred embodiment of the inventionis illustrated, ref-` erence numeral Idesignates the side plateof asidewall of a railway house car. The side plate is usually Z-shaped insection `embodying an` upstanding flange II shown partially in Figs. land `3 of the drawing, a horizontal web l2 andra `dependingflange I3; fl l A 'Z-shaped retaining bar I4 is fastened to the depending flange I3as by `means of rivets I5 which pass through the upstanding leg IB oftheretaining bar. The web I1 of said bar extends outwardly and carries adepending leg I8 spaced from thedepending flange I3 of the side plate.

`A door header I9 is also fastenedto the:de pending flange I3 4of theside plate as by means of rivets 20. The door header extends across thedoor opening and is substantiallyY J-shaped in section and embodies aninner upstanding flange 2l which is fastened to the dependingflange I3of the side plate by the rivets 20, anoutwardly extending web 22 and anupwardly extending angc `23. The header presents a trough 24 capable ofcatching and disposing of foreign matter which might otherwise nd itsway into the car through the door opening. It will be observed` fromFig. 3 of the drawing that the upstanding flange 23 of the headerisspaced from the depending leg I8 of the retaining bar I4 so as toprovide with said leg a guide and retaining construction for a slidinglift door.

The door illustrated is formed of metal and embodiesa metallic panel 25formed with a plurality of horizontal corrugations, the uppermost ofwhich is shown at 26. These corrugations merge' at their ends intovertical corrugations 2'I and 28 formed in the panel adjacent to thefront and rear vertical edges thereof.` A substantially channel shapedreinforcing member 29 is secured to the front vertical margin of thedoor. The rear vertical margin of the door is reinforced by means of asealing strip 30 and a buffer angle 3l.` `When the door is closed thesealing strip 30 is adapted to cooperate with a spark strip 32 to sealthe rear edge of the door. 'I'he spark strip 32 is fastened to theoutwardly extending Aleg 3.3 `of an angle member 34 which is secured asby means `of rivets 35 to the leg 36 of a door post 31 shown partiallyin Fig. 2 of the drawing.

While the door has been described in some de tail, its construction` iswell known and it is to be understood that the instant invention is notlimited to Such a door but may beutilized with doors constructedofdifferent materials and of different designs.

The upper margin of the door is reinforced by means of an angle member38, the `vertical leg 39 of which is secured as by means of rivets 40upon. the outside of the metallic panel 25. The horizontal leg 4I of thereinforcing angle 38 extends inwardly across the upper edge of the paneland the upstanding` fiange 23 of the door header I9 so as to lieabovethe trough 24 of said header. It

. willbe observed from Fig. 3 of the drawing that the inwardly extendingflange 4I of the reinforcing angle is spaced above the upper edge of theupstanding flange 23 ofthe door header. `The instant invention providesa construction whereby this space is effectively closed so as to prevent2 L v y sealing strip 42 also embodies a horizontal flange 44 whichbears against the underside of the horizontal flange 4I of thereinforcing angle 39. The flange 44 is formed with a return bend and isextended downwardly and outwardly in the form of`a readily flexed flange45.

The door illustrated on the drawing is of the lift type, that is, a doorwhich inits lowered position is frictionally supported upon' a track andwhich is adapted to be elevated and supported upon rollers or otheranti-friction means when it is desired to open or close the door. Thedoor is illustrated in its lowered position in full lines i in Fig. 3 ofthe drawing and Vin elevated posi-tion in dot and dash lines. Anydesired means may be provided for effecting elevation andanti-frictional support of the door, an, example of such meansA beingshown in the patent to Madland'v the door header I9 is established andasthe door continues its lowering movement to frictional lengagement withits supporting track flange 45 of the sealing strip is flexed so as toinsure sealing engagement thereof with the header ilange 23. It will beapparent that when such engagement has been established no foreignmatter can be forced out of the header trough 24 over the ange 23 intothe-car. Any foreignmatter which may be in the trough will be disposedofthrough the end of the trough which is open beyond the spark strip 32and outwardly 'of thedoor opening.

-To insure against damageto the sealingstrip 4.2y when the door is beingclosed the upstanding` flange 23 of the header is bevelled, asindicatedat 46. This flange is extended rearwardly beyond the attaching'ange ,of thelspark strip 32 .as more clearlyshown in Fig. l. Thesealingstrip 42 is similarly l.extended and its-end bevelled .as shownin Fig. 2 :to avoid interference with the door sealing strip-3B .whichextends upwardly Ato the leg 4I of the reinforcing angle 38. The upperrear corner of the door is thereby effectively sealed.

`It is apparent that the invention is not limited to the particularshape of the illustrated sealing strip nor to the `mode of securementofthe sealing strip to the door. In the employment ofthe instantinvention modification of the .door structure and car side structure isavoided. The sealing strip does not interfere with interchange-y abilitywith doors which may not beprovided with such a strip and itsdisposition is such vthat it is protectedv during. shipment of the doorsand at all other times by the door reinforcing angle.

It will be apparent that numerous changes .an'd modifications in thedetails of the invention will be clear to those skilled in the art. Itis intended, therefore, that all such modifications and changes becomprehended within this invention, which is to be limited only by .thescope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim: i 1. A sliding lift door for railway house cars comprising apanel, a metallic reinforcing member secured to the upper margin of saidpanel, said member having a vertical flange fastened to the outside ofsaid panel and a flange extending inwardly across the upper edge of saidpanel, and a flexible metallic sealing strip, said sealing strip havinga flange frictionally secured between said panel and said verticalflange of said reinforcing member and a flange abutting the underside ofand'terminating within said inwardly extending flange of saidreinforcing member, said latter flange of said sealing strip having anoutwardly and downwardly inclined sealing flange. 4

I2.4In a railway house car embodying a wall having a door openingtherein, a .trough-shaped door ,headerl secured to said'wall across saiddoor opening, `said header yhavingyan outer upwardly extending flange, alongitudinally sliding lift door mounted upon said car, a reinforcingflange at.

the-upper margin of said door extending inwardly abovesaid headerflange, a flexible metallic sealingstrip secured to said door, saidsealing strip` 1 having a flange abutting against the underside .of`said reinforcing flange and a downwardly and4 outwardly inclined sealingflange, said.l `latter flange overlapping and being engaged and flexedby the upper edge of lsaid header flange when said door is lowered. i

3. In a railway house car having a door opening therein, a trough-shapeddoor `header `secured to said wall `across said door opening, saidheader having an outerl upwardly extending flange, a longitudinallysliding lift door mounted upon said car, la reinforcing flange at theupper margin of said door extending inwardly above said header flange, aflexiblemetallic sealing strip secured tosaid door, said sealingv stripabutting against .the underside of said reinforcingI flange and having adownwardlyin'- clined `sealing flange, said latter flange overlappingand being engaged and flexed by the upperv having a flange frictionallysecured between said panel and said vertical flange of said reinforcingmember, said sealing strip abutting the andere side of said inwardlyextending flange of said re inforcing member and having a downwardlyinclined sealing flange terminating within said inwardly extendingilangeof said reinforcing member.

THoRvALD embodying va wall

